Growing economic ties with Qatar

Qatar would soon sign a preferential trade agreement and a free trade agreement with Pakistan. The agreements would enhance bilateral trade between the two friendly countries. The enhanced trade will be beneficial for both countries, more so for Pakistan; it will generate more jobs for Pakistanis within the country and in Qatar and also bring in the much-needed foreign exchange. Pakistan has offered to set up a factory in Qatar to manufacture football for the Football World Cup 2022 as well as other tournaments. Offer has also been made for the export of other sports goods. There is a good demand for football in Qatar considering that football is the most popular sport in Qatar and other countries of the Middle East. Nebras Power, a major investment group in Qatar’s energy sector, has expressed an interest in making direct investment in Pakistan’s power sector.

The two countries would further enhance cooperation in the fields of energy and aviation. With a view to strengthening economic ties, officials from the commerce and energy ministries of Pakistan attended the fifth Pak-Qatar Joint Ministerial Commission meeting held in Qatar last month. Pakistan has also offered security for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The Government of Pakistan has endorsed a report sent by the Government of Qatar to the WTO to recognise its products such as LNG and natural gas as eco-friendly.

Qatar has requested additional traffic rights to enhance aviation links with Pakistan. Given the growing air traffic through and from Qatar, this is one of the significant aspects of economic ties. Qatar Airways, which started operations with two passenger aircraft in January 1994, now has a fleet of more than 200 aircraft with 43,000 employees. The two-way trade between Pakistan and Qatar reached Qatari riyal 9.5 billion in 2018, witnessing an unprecedented rise of 63 per cent. Currently around 150,000 Pakistanis work in Qatar, sending $400 million remittances annually to home. Pakistan should further capitalise on the growing economic ties with Qatar. In the South Asian context, it should be borne in mind: the only pariah at the stock exchange is the bankrupt.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2019.

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